The Global Down Syndrome Foundation is bringing big star power to the annual Be Beautiful Be Yourself Fashion Show – the largest single fundraiser benefiting people with Down syndrome – beginning at 5 p.m. Oct. 25 at the Sheraton Downtown Denver Hotel, 1550 Court Place.

Award-winning actors Helen Hunt and Laura Dern will join the roster of celebrities at the fashion show including award-winning actor John C. McGinley, supermodel Beverly Johnson, Nuggets players Kenneth Faried, JaVale McGee and Arron Afflalo, Broncos punter Britton Colquitt, pro golfer David Duval, self-advocates Steven Dulcie, Brad Hennefer and DeOndra Dixon, and 9News anchor Kim Christiansen.

The event includes silent and live auctions, dinner, two Quincy Jones Exceptional Advocacy Award winners, an Ambassador video and an the fashion show featuring models with Down syndrome and celebrity escorts.

Down syndrome is the most frequent chromosomal disorder yet the least funded genetic condition by the U.S. federal government. Global Down Syndrome Foundation is dedicated to significantly improving the lives of people with Down syndrome through research, medical care and related education and advocacy. Proceeds from the Be Beautiful Be Yourself Fashion Show will fund life-changing research and medical care for Down syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease.

To purchase a table or ticket, or to donate, visit www.BeBeautifulBeYourself.org or contact Ashley Miltgen at 303-468-6669, amiltgen@globaldownsyndrome.org.

The Regional Transportation District, in partnership with the Aurora and Cherry Creek school districts, has launched a student art contest to help kids learn the benefits of public transportation in a creative way.

Some 2,400 middle school students from the Aurora and Cherry Creek school districts are competing for a chance to have their artwork displayed on the side of a 40-foot RTD bus. The contest theme is My World. My Art. My RTD.

“The aim of the art contest is to encourage young people in our community to be aware of and engaged in their public transit system through art,” said Claudia Folska, RTD Board Director, District E, who initiated the idea of the student art contest. “Our children are our future and their voices matter.”

Art students were asked to submit artwork on an interior bus card that represents what public transportation means and how it benefits the community. Each school will choose two finalists to submit to RTD, and that’s where the voting comes in.

From Friday through Oct. 24, the public will be able to vote online through RTD’s website for their favorite student artwork from each school district. The three designs from each district with the most votes move on to the next round. An art committee comprised of judges from RTD and the community will choose the first, second and third place winners. There will be one grand prize winner selected from each school district.

The two grand prize winners will be announced on Oct. 31. Each winner will then work with an RTD graphic designer to incorporate their design onto the side of a bus. The bus featuring the student artwork will be unveiled at a special event with the winning schools at a later time.

After the contest is completed, all entries will be showcased inside RTD buses throughout the district.

“This is a pilot project with Aurora and Cherry Creek schools, but based on the overwhelming success, we will evaluate how we can expand the program to partner with other school districts in the future,” said Pauletta Tonilas, RTD’s senior manager of public relations.

For more information about the student art contest, visit www.rtd-denver.com.

Eavesdropping on dog groomer and owner (who’s a Raiders fan) of Kevin & Friends on East Alameda Street and a customer:
Groomer: “The Raiders can’t find anyone who wants to coach there.”
Customer: “Maybe they should start looking at the junior highs?”
Dog groomer: “Nah, they can’t beat junior high teams.”

There are some stories that are too sad to report. This is one of them.

Randy Weeks, age 59, President of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts and Executive Director of its Broadway touring division, died on Thursday.

Weeks was in London attending the Independent Presenter’s Network conference. Concern was raised when he missed a previously scheduled meeting

Colleagues requested that the hotel in which he was staying do a wellness check at which time he was discovered in his bed. Cause of death is unknown.

Here’s what retiring head of the DPCA, Daniel Ritchie, had to say: “Randy’s relationship with the DCPA began in 1978 when he started working in the box office while attending the University of Colorado. Despite a foray into his parents’ restaurant business, Randy’s first love was the theater. He was serving as Theatre Operations Manager at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., when local Broadway presenter Bob Garner tapped Randy to take the helm of Denver Center Attractions in 1989.”

Ritchie added: “Since then, Randy has presented more than 400 shows — including 10 national touring premieres (“The Book of Mormon,” “Pippin,” “Peter and the Starcatcher,” Disney’s “The Lion King,” “Sunset Boulevard” and the revival of “A Chorus Line,” among others) and the pre-Broadway engagement of Disney’s “The Little Mermaid.”

During Weeks’ tenure, he also opened the Garner Galleria Theatre in 1992 with the smash hit “Forever Plaid.” The venue has gone on to great success, treating audiences to such long-running shows as “Always … Patsy Cline” and “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.”

Weeks was a co-founder of the Women’s Voices Fund making gifts to honor his mother and aunt. His theatre involvement extended far beyond the DCPA, including participation in the Denver School of the Arts Board, Independent Presenter’s Network, The Broadway League, and Scientific and Cultural Facilities District.

“He was especially proud of his ongoing commitment to the Kappa Sigma Fraternity at CU-Boulder, hosting many of the young men at the theatre,” Ritchie said. “But most recently, Randy spearheaded the creation of The Bobby G Awards in 2013, the Colorado regional awards program for The National High School Musical Theater Awards, which recognizes and fosters the talent of aspiring youth in the local community. Recognized by The Broadway League with the Outstanding Broadway Presenter Award, it was obvious that Randy actively worked to expand theatre throughout the community and across the nation.

“The addition of the cabaret model into the DCPA’s programming proved to be a wild success. He was an early adopter of new theatre, including the national tour of Traces, cementing Denver’s place as a launch pad of exciting works destined for national prominence. Randy has left an indelible mark on Denver, Colorado and the national theatre community. He will be greatly missed by all of us at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

The Denver Broncos on Wednesday announced a partnership with the Rose Andom Center, which is scheduled to open this winter. As part of this relationship, the Broncos have pledged a $150,000 donation from Broncos Charities and committed to an ongoing collaboration with the Rose Andom Center, the first family justice center in Colorado.

“There is no place for domestic violence in our society,” Broncos President and Chief Executive Officer Joe Ellis said. “It’s a very serious issue that affects so many, including children, and it deserves the extensive resources that the Rose Andom Center will provide to make a difference.

“The Denver Broncos are very proud to announce this relationship and look forward to the positive impact the Rose Andom Center will have on our community.”

“The Rose Andom Center will create a new vision for providing services to domestic violence victims by facilitating better access to services and staff of community organizations and government agencies in a single, safe location. Its goal is to co-locate staff and crucial services in one place to reduce the number of places victims must go to access services, increasing the likelihood that victims will successfully utilize all available resources.

“As a public/private partnership, the Rose Andom Center brings together 15 community organizations and seven government agencies to work together under one roof. It will also provide a streamlined referral process to numerous other off-site partners and programs to aid those affected by domestic violence.

“The Broncos are one of many community organizations pledging support for the Rose Andom Center, named in honor of Denver entrepreneur and McDonald’s franchise owner Rose Andom and her lead gift of $1 million toward the successful completion of this important civic project.

Fans of satire will find plenty to enjoy when the Denver Press Club’s annual Gridiron Show takes place on Friday at the newly renovated Reiman Theater on the campus of the University of Denver.

The DPC’s show of political and cultural satire features a returning Governor John Hickenlooper and the Hick-Tones (including Tom Clark, CEO Metro Denver Economic Development Corp.), Rocky Mountain PBS’ Cynthia Hessin, a crew from the 9News morning show (excellent singer Belen DeLeon, Gary Shapiro, Corey Rose and Gregg Moss) and more folks from politics and media.

Doors open at 6 p.m. and showtime is at 7 p.m. at the Reiman Theater, in the Margery Reed Hall building (2306 E. Evans Ave.) on the DU campus, next to the Daniels College of Business. Parking is free at the Daniels College of Business.

The Gridiron show is a laugh-fest of local performers, journalists, politicians and Denver Press Club members, who present a hilarious skewering of local and national political and cultural happenings – mostly in song, plus a fake newscast. The original performance was held in 1946, and its current run has been an almost-annual occurrence since 2000.

Also returning are members of the core cast each year: Edie Sonn, Ruth Darling-Goldberg, Cynthia Rose, Steve Koenigsberg, Tom Corona, Bruce Goldberg and violinist Julia Hays, plus newcomer Kevin Flynn, a veteran of The Rocky Mountain News. Fred Brown, the retired statehouse reporter from The Denver Post and 9News, again will serve as master of ceremonies and offer up some hilarious haikus.

Tickets to the show are $30 and available at www.blacktie-colorado.com, by clicking on Oct. 10, or by using this URL: http://tinyurl.com/kvnjynl.

Sponsors include Anadarko Petroleum Corp., Comcast, Egan Printing, Linhart Public Relations, Southwest Airlines, The Denver Post, Wells Fargo and Xcel Energy.

The PACE Center Art Gallery in Parker is hosting an exhibition that features photographs of celebrity musicians taken by Colorado photographer Jensen Sutta Friday through Nov. 14.

The exhibit’s opening reception takes place from 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 16 . It is open to the public and includes live music, hors d’oeuvres, a cash bar and an artist talk.

Sutta has photographed politicians like President Barack Obama and former President George W. Bush, Hollywood celebrities such as Nicole Kidman and Samuel L. Jackson, and musical greats including B.B. King and George Strait. When asked how he narrowed down the selection for the PACE Center’s exhibit, Sutta said, “It was a choice to pick subjects that I feel would have the widest range of appeal… Politicians are polarizing (these days), actors are not heroes, landscapes are fairly common… but music is universal.”

Sutta’s exhibition at the PACE Center (20000 Pikes Peak Ave.) will feature photographs of the following musicians:  Jack Johnson, Jaime Foxx, Ryan Tedder (OneRepublic), Sheryl Crow, Pat Monahan (Train), Flo Rida, G-Love, Todd Park Mohr (Big Head Todd), Burt Bacharach, Kenny Rogers, Peter Cetera (Chicago), Don Felder (Eagles), B.B. King, Morris Day (the Time), Luke Bryan, Leann Rimes, Merle Haggard, Brad Paisley, Randy Owen (Alabama) and George Strait.

Sutta shared some stories from behind the camera:

“One of the first successful music shots was the image of Burt Bacharach playing piano with his reflection in the piano. When he was given a copy of the image, he loved it. That was a neat (and encouraging) response. Along the same lines, Leanne Rimes selected an image I took for her concert t-shirt. But above all, one of my favorite experiences was photographing Jack Johnson. I was able to spend some time chatting with him and really enjoyed meeting him. After the show, I exited the stage door and dozens of fans started cheering and taking pictures. They stopped when they realized it was me and not him, but for that brief moment it was fun to feel like a rock star.”

Sutta graduated from the University of Richmond with a degree in biology. However, after he was in a car accident, Sutta decided to make a change and “do something fun” with the rest of his life, and so began his pursuit of photography. He obtained a master’s degree from the Brooks Institute of Photography and got his career up and running quickly, photographing Steven Spielberg and Leonardo DiCaprio in his first year of business.

For more information about Parker Arts, visit www.ParkerArt.org.

Today only, Whole Foods markets will be donating 5 percent of all purchases from five Denver locations (Cherry Creek, Capitol Hill, Wash Park, Colorado Boulevard and Tiffany Plaza) to the Denver Center for the Performing Arts .

The DCPA Board of Trustees has agreed to match donations up to $25,000. Shop at Whole Foods and help the DCPA reach its goal of raising more than $50,000 for its Arts in Education programs.

Blue Man Group returns to Denver for five performances only Friday through Sunday at The Buell Theatre. The theatrical tour features new content highlighted by classic Blue Man favorites. The new sound, set, and video design centering around a proscenium-sized LED curtain and high-resolution screen create an entirely new high-impact visual experience.

Blue Man Group is best known for multi-media performances that feature three bald and blue characters who take the audience on a journey that is funny, intelligent and visually stunning. A live band accompanies the Blue Men.

“Our theatrical productions take a humorous look at what we like to call 2.5-D space,” said Blue Man Group co-founder Philip Stanton. “An example of what we mean by this would be e-mailing or texting the person in the next office rather than walking over to talk to them face-to-face.”

“We say that no matter how high-tech things get, there’s still something human there. We’ll always need others, always need to collaborate. People still need to come together and look each other in the eye.  Through the Blue Man’s connection with the audience, we hope to encourage this human-to-human interaction, while helping people reconnect with their own sense of wonder and discovery, with their own sense of what is possible in their lives.”

Single tickets for Blue Man Group start at $25. To charge by phone, call Denver Center Ticket Services at 303-893-4100. TTY (for Deaf and hard-of-hearing patrons): 303-893-9582. Groups of 10 or more, please call 303-446-4829. Additionally, tickets may be purchased at the Denver Center Ticket Office, located in the Helen Bonfils Theatre Complex lobby. Buy and print online at www.denvercenter.org.